Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Fifty years ago, I was a tot, poking around Mom's kitchen. With yeast, sugar and lukewarm milk, the rising dough covered the bowl. It's warm, tasty and delicious and I couldn't wait. Scrawled on the back of the invoice pad (Dad was a plumber), Mom had a paczki recipe.

It was Fat Tuesday, just before Lent and no sweets of any kind, not even Juicy Fruit gum. The sweet dough packed full of fruit filling, powdered sugar glaze and fried lard lipids; I was a happy little kid. Fast-forward fifty years? I learned.

The old-time paczki is a heart-stopping, artery-clogging and begging-for-an-angioplasty. Who knew? Before you count your lipids, consider this. Paczki-light.

3 packets (x1/4 oz. ) active dry yeast granules

1 cup fat-free milk, lukewarm

1 cupflour

Let it rest for 1/2 hour

1 1/4 cup Egg Beaters

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick margarine, melted

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 teaspoon of salt

2 1/2 cups of flour

Let it rest for 1 hour

Jelly, (strawberry, apple, apricot)

Peanut or vegetable oil

Step 1: I use three packets x 1/4 oz. active dry yeast granules,1 cup fat-free milk (Calories: 80), lukewarm. Mix well and the yeast is frothy. Use 1 cup of flour. Mix well. Let it rest for 1/2 an hour.

Step 10: Transfer the mixture to a floured board, use a rolling pin 1/2 inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter or water glass. Sprinkle flour.

Step 11: Place a dollop of jelly: strawberry, black raspberry or apple. Whatever. One spoonful is plenty. Pinch edges over the filling and be sure it's sealed. Use tennis-ball paczki, please.

Step 12: Let it rest for 20 minutes.

Step 13: Use peanut oil or veggie oil, medium-high, (48 fl. oz., about 10 minutes), screaming hot. It's a rolling boil when a piece of dough rises up and floats. Use a big slotted spoon and be careful. Two or three minutes, (use your judgement), turn over. Use an absorbent paper towels.

Step 14: Sprinkle a sugar or confection's sugar.

Step 15: Yields 15-20 paczki.

Useless fact: "Plant bud" or "pak"; it comes from a derivative of the Polish language, hence, paczki.